COMPUTEX still going strong despite economic downturn

In the rough economic climate of today, questions are being asked about the viability of some of the world's biggest trade shows. Take Germany's CeBIT for example - which earlier this year saw its number of exhibitors drop by a massive 25 per cent, prompting show officials to cut the length of the show for 2010.

The next major event on the tech industry's calendar is COMPUTEX - starting tomorrow, Tuesday June 2nd. So how's it looking for Taipei's annual show? Well, surprisingly good. According to a COMPUTEX spokesperson, 1,712 companies will be exhibiting at the show this year - that's a decrease of less than 1 per cent when compared to last year's 1,725 exhibitors.

The numbers come as something of a surprise - considering that both CES and CeBIT witnessed notable declines in numbers just months ago. Speaking to exhibitors today, there's an air of optimism prior to the event's launch with a number of companies openly stating that Windows 7 may help drive demand in the coming months.

What can we expect to see at the show? Well, there's bound to be a few surprises thrown up, but from what we've seen so far, this is a show where ultra-portable and ultra-thin PCs continue to run riot, and we're seeing a large number of touch-enabled all-in-one PCs, too. Stay tuned to HEXUS.net as we'll be bringing you live COMPUTEX coverage throughout the week.